Conveyer.



110.730.5 11. PATENTED-JUNE 9,1903, I s. P. JOOR.

GONVEYER.

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'QWSEW E I No. 730,541. I PATEN'IIED JUNE 9, i903.

' s.. F. JUOR. GONVEYER.

APPLICATION FILED JAN. 26, 1903.

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Patented June 9, 1903.

PATENT OFFICE.

SAMUEL F. JOOR, OF MORGAN PARK, ILLINOIS.

CONVEYER.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 730,541, dated June 9, 1903. Application filed January 26, 1903. hcrial No. 140,538. Kilo model.)

reference more particularly to conveyers of.

the endless type adapted to carry coal, grain, or other material and conveythe same between points located at different elevations or between separated points on the same elevation.

Oonveyers of-the class to which my invention belongs are characterized by the provision of a series of endwise-connected buckets which are caused to pass in succession beneath a delivery-hopper and are charged therefrom, carrying their loads thence to a point of delivery, at which they are emptiedby tilting or inverting the buckets, whence the buckets again return to the charginghopper to repeat the operation.

The object of my invention is to provide'a mechanism which shall be automatically actuated by the buckets to deliver a predetermined measured quantity of material-thereto, and in the carrying out of this object I employ, in connection with the delivery-spout of the hopper containing the material, a delivery mechanism Which is successively actuated by the buckets of the con veyer as they pass thereunder.

In the preferred embodiment of my invention I employ, in connection with and as constituting part of each buc'ket, a peculiar and novel form of hinged cover, which, operating in conj u'nction with a guide-track located beneath and parallel with the conveyer, constitutes the actuating device of the delivery mechanism, said cover also serving as a guidechute for the material inthe loading of the bucket. This hinged cover also possesses an additional function as constituting in part the load-carrying portion .of the bncket,'and

where employed on endless conveyers having an upper and lower run, in traveling between which the bucket is inverted, said cover is capable of constituting in part the load-carrying portion of the bucketon both the lower and upper runs.

To this and other minor ends my invention consists in a conveyor mechanism characterized by a novel automatic delivery mechanism and a novel construction of bucket and hinged cover, substantially as hereinafter described and claimed. 7

Referring to the accompanying drawings,

which illustrate a preferred form of my in vention, Figure 1 is a side elevational View of a complete conveyor mechanism embodying my invention. Fig. 2 is a top plan view, enlarged, of a section of the conveyor-chain and a single bucket and its hinged cover carried thereby, more particularly illustrating the manner and means of supporting the bucket and cover on and between the parallel members of the conveyor-chain. Fig. 3

is a side elevational view of the parts shown in Fig. 2 drawn to the same scale; and Fig. 4 is a side elevational view of a' section of the conveyer, illustrating in association therewith the details of the automatic feed device whereby measured quantities of material are delivered to the successive buckets.

Referringto Fig. 1, 10 designates as an entirety an endless conveyer-chain formed of a series of relatively short links pivoted together'and trained over sprocket-wheels 11, mounted in a common verticalplane and presenting upper and lower runs between which the material may be carried. This chain, more specificallyconsidered, is composed, as shown in Fig. 2, of a pair of relatively narrow sprocket-chains l0" and 10", connected by transverse rods or bolts l2,passing through every other pivotal joint formed by the links of the chains. The pivot-pins of each sprocketchain 10 and 10 are preferably provided with antifriction-rollers 13, which engage the peripheries of the sprockets 11, whereby the chain is driven through power applied to any one or more of the sprockets.

14: designates as an entirety each one of a series of buckets or bucket-bodies disposed in tandem order between the side'members erably of the flaring and wide-mouthed formation shown, the entire wide advance end of the bucket'being open and in the form of a flat V.

Cooperating with each bucket-body 14 is a double cover composed of a pair of fiat coversections 16 and 17, provided, respectively, with side flanges or margins 16 and 17. These cover-sections are rigidly united at their meeting ends, preferably by means of rivets 17 securing together the overlapping ends of their margins, and the cover-sections are thus united ata wide angle to each other, which in practice I have found should preferably be slightly less than one hundred and eighty degrees. I The double cover thus formed is hinged centrally along the meeting-line of its two sections on one of the transverse rods 12 of the conveyer-chain, and the sections of the cover are of such a length as to extend from the hinge to the upper and lower margins, respectively, of the open end or mouth of the bucket-body 14.

Rotatably mounted on the cover-sections 16 and 17 at or near the outer end of each side thereof are rollers 18 and 19, respectively, these rollers being designed to ride over tracks 20 and 21, disposed beneath and parallel with the upper and lower runs of the conveyer-chain, respectively, and when said rollers are engaged with their respective tracks the respective sections of the hinged cover on which they are mounted are held thereby against the respective margins of the bucket-bodywith which they cooperate. For purposes of discharging the loads carried by the buckets the lower track 21 is provided with a drop-section 21" and the track 20 with a corresponding drop-section 20. The dropsection 21 is herein shown as a hinged section of the track, which cooperates with an oppositely-inclined depending section 22 of a suitably-curved guide or track 22, located adjacent the lower right-hand sprocket 11, and the drop-section 20 of the upper track may be a rigid section, which cooperates with a hinged trap 23, adapted to be raised and lowered by a cable 24, passed around a pulley 25 above the con veyer. The hinged dropsection 21 of the lower track may be maintained in the'level or the downwardly-inclined position, as desired, by any suitable means, as a pin 26, uniting the same at either of two points to the inclined extension 22, While the hinged section 23 of the upper track is maintained level or downwardly-inclined by the cable 24.

27 designates a hopper located directly above the lower section of t he conveyor-chain and serving to supply the material to the buckets on the lower run. This hopper is provided with an inclined discharge trough or chute 28. Hinged in and transversely of the base of the trough 28 atits lower end is a measuring and feeding device consisting, as herein shown, of a frame 29, directly underlying the base of the trough and provided at one end with an arc-shaped blade 30, playing through a transverse slot in the base of the trough, and at its other end with a flat blade 31 ofa size to swing freely into and out of the lower open end of the trough. On each overhanging end of the pivot-shaft 32 of the measuring device is secured a counterweight 33, preferably in the segmental form shown, one edge of which counterweight lies directly in the path of the roller 18 on the upper section of the hinged cover. The blades 30 and 31 are of a size substantially equal to the cross-sectional area of the trough, and thereby alternately serve as stops for the material sliding by gravity through the trough, said blades being so positioned relatively to their common center of oscillation that when one is within the trough and serving to stop the further fiow of material the other is withdrawn.

In the operation of the device the buckets pass successively below the discharge-trough 28 of the hopper with their hinged covers occupying the position shown in Figs. 1 and 4, wherein the lower sections of the covers are held against the lower margins of the forward open ends of the bucket-bodies, thereby constituting, in eifect, a part of the loadcarrying portion of the bucket, while the upper sections of the covers are inclined at an angle suitable to receive the material as it drops from the trough and direct it into the bucket. Thecounterweight33normallymaintains the curved stop 30 within the trough, as shown in full lines in Fig. 4. As the buckets successively pass along beneath the mouth of the trough the roller 18 impinges the adjacent edge of the counterweight 33, and by reason of the fact that the opposite end of the double cover is held between the lower margin of the bucket-body and the track the counterweight is swung upwardly, retracting the stop 30, but at the same time elevating the stop 31, whereupon the material slides bygravity, fillingthe trough up to and against the lower stop 31. As soon, however, as the roller 18 has passed out of engagement with the counterweight the latter drops, thereby quickly reversing the positions of the stops 30 and 31, and thus permitting a measured quantity of material to fall by gravity onto the cover of the underlying bucket, whence it slides down into the load-carrying section of the bucket constituted by the lower half of the bucket-body and the lower section of the hinged cover. No sooner has this operation been completed with one bucket than the cover of the next succeeding bucket engages the counterweight 33, and the operation is repeated. Ifitis desired to discharge the load on the lower run, the hinged section 21 is moved to and secured in the lowerinclined position, (shown in fulllines in Fig. 1,) so that as soon as the load carrying section of the cover reaches said hinged section of the track it immediately drops under the weight of the load and dischargesthe latter, the cover be- IIO ' occupying the same relative positions to each other as when the load is received, make the turn around the lower right-hand sprocket, during which travel the load is shifted eutirely into the bucket-bod y, the cover-section being kept pressed thereagainst by the guide 22. As soon as the loaded bucket reaches the proximity of the upper right-hand sprocket 11- the wheels 18 on the opposite cover-section ride into engagement with a downward extension 20 of the upper track, whereby said other section of the cover is moved toward and maintained in contact with the body of the bucket, while the load 7 as the bucket rounds the sprocket-wheel is partially transferred from the bucket-body to said hingedcover-section, and thus conveyed to the discharge-trap formed by the drop-sections 20 and 23 of the upper track, whereupon the load is automatically discharged in the manner already described into any suitable receiver, such as the storage-bin 26. After the load has been discharged the lower or loadcarrying section of the cover is returned to closed position by riding up the hinged section 23 and is maintained'therein during the continued travel of the bucket around and onto the descending leg of the conveyor. As soon, however, as the bucket reaches the bot tom of the descending leg and rounds the lower left-hand sprocket 11 the rollers 19 again engage the lowertrack 2l, thus automatically insuring the charging position of the cover as the bucket again passes beneath the load-delivering hopper and actuates the feeddelivery mechanism in the trough thereof.

It will thus be seen that .the peculiar form of hinged cover which I have shown and described when cooperating with the underlying track, which serves the double function of maintaining the lower section of the cover against the bucket-body and maintaining the upper section of the cover sufficiently rigid to actuate the feed mechanism,notonlypossesses the advantage of permittingthe deliveryof the material from the bucket on either the lower or upper run of the conveyor, but it is also instrumental in connection with the measuring device described in effecting the automatic rapid successive operation of said measuring device in cooperation with the series of buckets passing beneath the discharge of the feedhopper. o

In a companion application filed of even date herewith, Serial No. 140,537, I have shown and claimed a bucket having a pair of covers and operating to deliver the load on either the lower or upper run, as desired; but in the aforesaid application the two covers are disconnected from each other and operate independently. The characteristic novel feature of the bucket of my present invention is the double-hinged cover, the two sections of which are rigidly united at their meeting ends, whereby in cooperation with the guide or track underlying the lower run of the conveyor the upper open end of the cover is rendered capable of positively actuating a feed mechanism for delivering given quantities of material to the successive buckets.

It is evident that the mechanism described and illustrated might be modified and varied considerably by the substitution of mechanically-equivalent forms and devices without departing from the spirit of my invention. I do not, therefore, limit the latter to the precise forms and relative arrangement of parts shown and described, except-to the extent indicated in certain of the appended claims I claim 7 1. In an apparatus of the type described, the combination with a conveyor comprising essentially a series of endwise-connected buckets, of hinged covers for said buckets, respectively, a guideway or track underlying said conveyer and overridden by the lower portions of said hinged covers, a delivery-receptacle for the material to be distributed having a discharge-trough disposed above the buckets, and means located in said trough for successively. delivering measured quantities of material to the buckets, said means being actuated by the upper portions of said hinged covers, substantially as described.

2. In an apparatus of the type described, the combination with' a conveyer comprising essentially a series of. endwise-connected buckets, the advance end of each of said buckets being open, of hinged covers for said buckets, respectively, each of said covers comprising two sections rigidly united along their meeting edges and adapted alternately to close the upper and lower portions of the openings of said buckets, a guideway or track underlyingsaid conveyor and overridden by the lower sections of saidhinged covers, a delivery-receptacle for the material to be distributed having a discharge-trough overlying said buckets, a hinged frame mounted on said trough and carrying separated stopblades adapted to be alternately entered and withdrawn from said trough by the oscillations of said hinged frame, and an actuating member on said hinged frame lying iuthe path of the upper sections of said hinged covers and actuated by the latter successively, substantially as described.

3. In an apparatus of the type described, the combination with a conveyor comprising essentially a series of endwise -connected buckets, the advance end of each of said buckets being open, of hinged covers for said buckets, respectively, each of said covers comprising two sections rigidly united along their meeting edges and adapted alternately to close the upper and lower portions of the openings of said buckets, rollers mounted on the outer portions of said cover-sections, a guideway or track underlying said conveyor and engaged by the rollers on the lower sections of said covers, a delivery-receptacle for the material to be distributed having a discharge trough overlying said buckets, a hinged frame mounted on said trough and carrying separated stop-blades adapted to be alternately entered and withdrawn from said trough by the oscillations of said hinged frame, and a weighted extension on said hinged frame disposed in the path of and adapted to be raised by the rollers on the upper hinged sections of the covers, substantially as described.

4. In an apparatus of the type described, the combination with anendlessconveyercomprising essentiallyaseries of endwise-connected open-ended buckets and having upper and lower runs, of guideways or tracks located below and parallel with said upper and lower runs, respectively, discharge-traps in said upper and lower tracks, hinged covers for said buckets, respectively,each of said covers co In prising cover-sections rigidly united at their meeting edges and adapted to alternately close upper and lower portions of the open ends of said buckets, respectively, guide-rollers on the outer portions of said cover-sections adapted to override said lower and upper tracks, respectively, and maintain the lower portion of the bucket on each track closed, a delivery-receptacle for the material to be distributed having a discharge-trough located above the lower run, and a delivery unechanism mounted in said discharge-trough and actuated through contact therewith of the cover-rollers, substantially as described. 5. Aconveyer-bucke'tot' the typedescribed,

comprising a bucket-body having a V-shaped open forward end, and a hinged cover for the same, said cover comprising a pair of coversections rigidly united at their meeting edges coincident with their pivotal axis, and said cover-sections being disposed at a wider angle to each other than the angle formed by the planes of the open end of the bucket, substantially as described.

6. A conveyor-bucket of the type described, comprising a substantially diamond-shaped bucket-body having an open V-shaped forward end, and a hinged cover therefor comprising a pair of cover-sections rigidly united at their meeting edges coincident with the pivotal axis of the cover, said hinged sections being disposed at such an angle to each other as that when one section closes one plane of the opening of the bucket-body the other section constitutes an inclined chute to deliver material to the bucket-body through the other plane of the opening, substantially as described.

7. The combination with a conveyerconstituted substantially byan endless line of buckets following one another intandem, of a delivery trough or spout disposed above the line of the conveyor, and a pair of connected stopgates operating alternately in said trough or spout, said stop-gates being operated through contact with a part of the conveyer mechanism traveling therebeneath to deliver a measured charge of material to each receptacle, substantially as described.

SAMUEL F. JOOR.

Witnesses:

SAMUEL N. POND, FREDERICK C. GoonWIN. 

